Opposition parties on Friday launched a scathing attack against the government for its move to authorise 10 Central agencies to intercept any information on computers, describing it as "unconstitutional and an assault on fundamental rights" and demanded its immediate withdrawal.
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi claimed that this is what the government meant when they said 'ghar ghar Modi'.
The opposition also raised the issue in both houses of Parliament and created uproar that led to adjournment in the Upper House.
Defending the order, the government said the authorisation was given under 2009 rules and that the opposition was playing with the national security by "making a mountain where even a molehill doesn't exist". On its part, the BJP said it is legal with adequate safeguards and dubbed the opposition's criticism as a "text book case" of speaking without any homework.
The Union home ministry on late Thursday evening issued an order enabling Intelligence Bureau, Narcotics Control Bureau, Enforcement Directorate, Central Board of Direct Taxes, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Central Bureau of Investigation, National Investigation Agency, Cabinet Secretariat (R&AW), Directorate of Signal Intelligence (For service areas of Jammu & Kashmir, North-East and Assam only) and Commissioner of Police, Delhi to intercept information stored on any computer device.
The Congress along with the CPI(M), the Samajwadi Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Trinamool Congress, Aam Aadmi Party and National Conference said they will collectively oppose the order.
More From This Section
Hitting out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the move, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi saying converting India into a police state won't solve his problems but only proves he is an "insecure dictator".
"Converting India into a police state is not going to solve your problems, Modi Ji. It's only going to prove to over 1 billion Indians, what an insecure dictator you really are," Gandhi said on Twitter.
"From Modi Sarkar to stalker sarkar, clearly the string of losses has left the BJP government desperate for information," the official Twitter handle of the Congress said.
Congress leader Jaiveer Shergill accused the government of "data snooping, stealing and scaring" Indians and demanded its immediate withdrawal that gave unbriddled powers to the government.
"Modi has used a simple Government Order to permit our national agencies to snoop on our communications. Who knew that this is what they meant when they said ghar ghar Modi'. George Orwell's Big Brother is here & welcome to 1984," Owaisi tweeted.
Big Brother is a fictional character and symbol in George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. He is ostensibly the leader of Oceania, a totalitarian state wherein the ruling party wields total power "for its own sake" over the inhabitants. In the society that Orwell describes, every citizen is under constant surveillance by the authorities.
"Blanket surveillance is bad in law," TMC chief Mamata Banerjee said on Twitter and demanded that the notification be withdrawn immediately.
The Centre, however, said the rules for intercepting and monitoring computer data were framed in 2009 when Congress-led UPA was in power and its new order only notified the designated authority.
Former Union minister and senior Congress leader Anand Sharma, flanked by leaders of other opposition parties, said, "It is the ultimate assault on fundamental rights and the right to privacy. It is also in direct conflict with the Supreme Court judgement that right to privacy is a fundamental right. The government has done it by strength we collectively oppose it."